Woman who entered Sabarimala temple beaten up by mother-in-law

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Thiruvananthapuram: One of the two women who had entered the Sabarimala temple defying tradition, alleged on Tuesday that she was beaten up by her mother-in-law after an altercation on the issue leading to her hospitalisation.

Kanakadurga, 44, who had been in hiding for the last two weeks after the darshan of Lord Ayyappa at the Sabarimala shrine due to security reasons, reached home in Perinthalmanna Tuesday morning. Soon after entering the house, she had a verbal duel with her in-laws who vehemently opposed her entry at the temple. Her mother-in-law allegedly beat her up with a wooden plank and she was rushed to the hospital, police said Tuesday.

She suffered head injuries and is admitted to a government hospital at Perinthalmanna in northern Malappuram district, they said. "My mother-in-law beat me up severely with the wooden plank," Kanakadurga told TV channels from the hospital. However, her aged mother-in-law also got admitted to the hospital later alleging that Kanakadurga had assaulted her. Both Kanakadurga's in-laws, as well as her own family, had opposed her decision to enter the Sabarimala temple taken in view of the landmark September 28 Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all age groups into the shrine.

Kanakadurga (44) and Bindhu (42) had entered the hill shrine on January 3, breaking a centuries-old tradition and defying dire threats from right-wing groups. Following their entry, the head priest decided to close the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in order to perform the "purification" ceremony. Violence involving BJP-RSS and the ruling CPI(M) rocked parts of Kerala during the January 3 hartal with several houses and shops of rival leaders and workers being attacked over the women's entry into the temple.

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